Sunday School Session 15

Hello, everyone. Welcome again to our study on the Gospel of Mark.

By now you should have lecture number eight entitled,

Predictions and Pictures of Jesus' Death. Of course, this covers Mark chapter 14, verse 1, the entire chapter, all the way through chapter 15, verse 15.

And in it is this telos. The Gospel writer now begins to describe and interpret the central event of our faith, the death of Jesus.

So in this passage, then, Mark is going to describe for us and interpret the death of the

Lord Jesus. So before we begin, let's bow for a prayer.

Father, help us now as we seek to understand your word. Encourage us, help us, make us grow, especially help us to love our

Savior more. Thank you for your word, which explains all that we need to know.

And we'll thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. The Gospels devote one third or more of their narrative to the passion of Jesus.

The death of Jesus is particularly central to these, if you want to call them, biographies of Jesus.

These biographies cover approximately three years of his ministry, and yet a great deal of the narrative is devoted to describing and interpreting for us what the crucifixion was like, how

Jesus ended up being crucified, and what that means. Now, as we begin, we see in the first two verses of Mark chapter 14, and again, you need to have read this before tuning in, but in the first two verses of Mark 14, here's what we find.

Religion is not necessarily a friend of Jesus. Now, what sets the whole process going, and who gets it going?

As you look at those first two verses, you see that the death of Jesus begins with a plot that sets in motion the events leading to his death.

It begins with a plot, a plot formulated by the religious leaders of the day.

The religious leaders, those who claim to know and obey the law of God, they begin to plot how they may kill

Jesus. They cannot merely bring him up on charges with witnesses because they can't charge him with anything.

He's not done anything wrong, and they have to time it just right, or they'll have a riot on their hands.

You notice that in the text. These men who glory in the law do not even begin to see how they break the law.

They're blind to their own sinfulness. They're blind to their own law breaking. Now, today we live in a very religious atmosphere, and so we must remember that religion is no guarantee of friendship with Jesus.

Just because someone's religious, just because someone goes to church, just because someone can talk some religious talk, doesn't necessarily mean he's a friend of Jesus.

Being religious does not guarantee a love for Jesus. These leaders probably went to the temple regularly.

They tithed of all of their possessions. They sacrificed faithfully.

They said they loved and they served God, yet they begin to plot the death of Jesus, even though they cannot find anything wrong in him.

They did this because Jesus upset their religious traditions.

You see, people don't want their religious traditions upset, especially since they figured out, or think they figured out, what's necessary to live in peaceful coexistence with God.

They get upset when the truth that is in Jesus comes along and makes a wreck of all their traditions.

Jesus actually produces hatred in such hypocrites.

Now, what can we possibly learn from this? Well, here's the first.

How does God accomplish his redemptive plan? Note, he accomplishes his redemptive plan through the wicked intentions of sinful human beings.

He can use the wicked intentions of sinful human beings to accomplish his good purposes.

There's nothing that can stand in the way of God accomplishing his purposes. In fact, he can use those things to accomplish those purposes.

Isn't that interesting? He uses the hate and hypocrisy of these religious leaders in order to accomplish the greatest thing ever, the redemption of a people for himself.

Here's something else we can learn. We need to understand the radical nature of being a disciple of Jesus.

We need to understand the nature of Jesus' revelation and determine to follow that and not our religious traditions, not our comfortable traditions.

You know what? If you're going to follow Jesus, it's not going to be comfortable. And all these religious traditions that we erect around us, these nice, comfortable things, we have to be willing to have them exploded if we're going to follow

Jesus. The nature of following Jesus is so radical. We want to make

Jesus fit our traditions. When he says, love your enemy, we say, well, he certainly doesn't mean the guy at work that's tormenting me.

No, he wants justice done there. He doesn't want me to do good. That's for other people. That's uncomfortable, right?

We have comfortable traditions. Always be looking out for the comfortable traditions that you have.

And you must ask, if I follow Jesus, it's not, and you must tell yourself, if I follow

Jesus, most often than not, it's not going to fit into my traditions. It's not going to fit into this comfort zone that I have.

It's going to be much more radical. Ask yourself, what are the comfortable traditions that I have?

What have I become comfortable with? I find that even though I want to be a full -blown

Jesus freak, too often I easily move toward the comfortable life of the religious traditionalist.

You see? And so I say to you, look carefully, examine yourself carefully.

Now, beginning in verse 3 and going through verse 11, we have what we call, what

I would say, and what I would say, or what is the story of the woman who uses this perfume on Jesus.

And I think we're told here to enter only with a heart of devotion. Why do you think the story of the woman is placed here?

This is a question I often ask. I always ask this when I'm preparing to preach or to teach.

Why did God put this passage here? It's almost as if we must enter the story of Jesus' crucifixion with a heart of devotion.

We cannot come as disinterested spectators. God doesn't want us to view the crucifixion of Jesus that way.

And it appears that he puts this story of this incredible devotion of a woman in order to teach us that we enter into this sacred ground of the crucifixion of Jesus with hearts that are fully devoted to him.

The story, this is the story of the woman who anointed Jesus with perfume.

It took more than a year's wages to purchase it. And the disciples complain because in their view, she wastes the whole thing on Jesus.

She could have used all that money to help the poor rather than wasting it on Jesus.

And they deal harshly with her. But Jesus accepts those kinds of expressions of love.

He replies to his disciples that the poor will always be with them. They will always have an opportunity to help the poor, but they won't always have him.

And he says that this woman will always be remembered for her service to him.

Now, what are some of the questions we need to ask in light of the actions of this woman?

Here's one. Have I ever, have I ever loved my savior to the degree that someone would find grounds to criticize me?

Have I loved Jesus so generously that someone might find grounds to criticize me?

Have I ever been so extravagant in my love for Jesus that someone might find fault with it?

Has my love ever been that obvious? Oh my, that is a difficult question, isn't it?

That is a difficult question. I almost hate asking it.

Don't know that anyone's ever criticized me for that kind of extravagant love. Here's another question.

What should our love for Jesus be like? What should our love for Jesus be like?

We must know Jesus to the point of loving him. We must love in an expensive and sometimes expansive manner.

We must love Jesus famously in a way that would cause others to notice.

Will others notice our love for Christ? When I die, will people speak of my love for Jesus?

What should our love for Jesus look like? What should it look like? Here's another question.

How can I develop this kind of love for Jesus? How do I develop this kind of love for Jesus? I think one of the ways is to consider how great is our sin and then to consider how great

God's forgiveness is. We need to consider the seeking love of God for us.

Sometimes I think we get so used to speaking of Jesus as Savior that we forget just how much it cost to save us, how deep we were in our sins.

We so easily see how terrible other people are, but we don't see how terrible we are.

As we continue through the narrative, as we continue this march toward the cross, you must understand that Jesus is the

Passover. Chapter 14, verses 12 through 26.

Jesus tells his disciples that it's time for the Passover. They all knew that. I mean, it was like our fourth of July, right?

Everybody knew the date of the Passover. So he tells his disciples to go find the man with the jar where he goes in to inquire of the master if the room is ready for them and to prepare the room for the

Passover so when Jesus and the other disciples arrive, they can celebrate the Passover.

You find here then the celebration of this ancient rite called Passover. Passover occupied a central place in the understanding of God's salvation.

It occupied a central place in understanding God's salvation. A lamb was sacrificed and eaten and it provided deliverance from death.

You remember the Passover story. They would kill the lamb and on that night, they put the blood on the top of the door and along the sides and if the executor of death saw that on the door, he would pass over that place and the oldest son would not die there.

And then through this judgment for God, the destroyer killed the many people that night.

Many Egyptians lost not just their children but their first -born animals as well and many were lost and through the judgment of God, through doing that, he delivered his people from slavery.

Now this is the apex of all Jewish ceremony, of all

Jewish understanding of God, of Jewish national identity. This is the

Passover. Like I said earlier, it's like the Fourth of July. For us, the

Fourth of July talks about our independence, our deliverance from what we consider a tyrannical power.

We look at the Fourth of July as celebrating our joy and independence.

It's even bound up in our national identity. We are the United States of America.

That's our identity and we came into being on the Fourth of July when we declared our independence.

All of that is bound up in it. For a Jewish person, the Passover said great volumes about their

God and his salvation and deliverance from slavery. It said a great deal about who they were.

It said a great deal about all that had been accomplished on their behalf by their great God. Now this was like us.

This was a festive time but that festive spirit crashes when

Jesus makes this dramatic announcement. He had predicted his death before.

We've seen that. He predicted his death a number of times but this time he says that one of his intimate friends would betray him.

There's stunned silence, a violent crashing of their emotions.

At this moment, in the exchange about this betrayal, you find the interaction of divine sovereignty and human responsibility.

It cannot be explained but it is revealed. Jesus says the son of man will go just as it is written about him.

He must be gone. He must go to his death. It was written about him. This is what must happen and yet Jesus goes on to say but woe to that man who betrays the son of man.

It would be better for him if he had not been born. Hear the intersection of divine sovereignty and human responsibility.

Jesus, before the foundation of the earth and it was recorded in scripture, was to be delivered over to death.

That's part of God's plan and yet the man who betrays him in accomplishing that plan is pronounced, a curse is pronounced over him.

Woe to that man. It would have been better if he had never been born. Now I can't explain all that and the

Bible doesn't attempt to. The Bible puts both of them together, right there, right together.

It doesn't bother to explain them but does tell us that nothing happens by chance.

That it all happens according to the purpose of God and yet even though it happens according to the purpose of God, yet I am still responsible for my actions.

We must always keep that in mind. But now that sign of deliverance, that Passover feast, that remembering of the great deliverance that God had accomplished for his people

Israel, that great deliverance finds fulfillment in a greater deliverer.

The deliverance pictured in the Passover, Passover by which the people of God would go back to that day, would recall that day, would relive that day, now takes on a greater meaning as it's fulfilled in Jesus.

What is the greater deliverance that Jesus provides? The deliverance from death and sin.

We are delivered from sin and thus delivered from death. We are delivered, he delivers us by his sacrifice from an accusing conscience.

My conscience can accuse me and I can run for refuge to Jesus who died for all my sins.

There is the deliverance from the accusing law.

The law cannot lay a glove on me now because even though it accuses me of wrong and demands that I pay,

Jesus took upon himself the curse of the law, thereby removing the curse from us, delivering us from the accusation of the law, of our guilt and the necessary execution that the law provides.

No, no, we've been delivered from it all so that there is no more accusing law. And so the

Passover is not merely about Israel and its deliverance, but a picture pointing to that ultimate deliverer,

Jesus. And so from now on, as I go to the past, as I look at the Passover, what it meant to those people back then, and understand fully what it meant to them, yet I can also look at it and say it is pointing forward to the greater deliverance that comes through the greater deliverer, the

Lord Jesus Christ. And here, as they proceed through the meal, you have a radical reinterpretation of this

Passover, something that surely stunned the original disciples.

It speaks of, Jesus says, this is, this bread is my body. It speaks of Jesus giving his body for our salvation.

During this part of the Passover celebration, Jesus gives thanks over the bread with the traditional prayer.

They would, whoever was the head of the family, the head of the table, would then take the bread and offer this prayer.

Blessed art thou, O Lord, our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.

He then distributes the bread, as it has always been distributed for century after century after century.

He takes the bread, he prays the prayer, he passes it out, but then he says something that surely stuns his disciples, take and eat, this is my body.

No one had ever said those words before. No one had ever done that. And here is

Jesus, all of a sudden, taking century after century after century of tradition, and saying, this is my body.

Take and eat, this is my body. Here is a new interpretation of the food and drink, indicating a new and greater deliverance.

From now on, Jesus' people, just like the old people of God, will think of redemption as they eat.

And then, here is the blood poured out. That's an unmistakable reference to sacrifice.

Here are these stunning words, after again, giving the traditional thanks for the cup.

There's a traditional prayer, and as Jesus finishes, he says, this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.

The idea of poured out, that's an unmistakable reference to sacrifice, to pour out your blood, or to pour out the blood of anyone or anything, was an unmistakable reference to sacrifice.

And so, Jesus says, this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.

This is my blood. This violent death is a substitute for many.

In Isaiah 53, verse 12, Isaiah writes of the servant, for he bore the sins of many and made intercession for the transgressors.

By pouring out his blood then, Jesus ratified a new covenant between God and his people.

This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out, which is sacrifice. I'm producing a covenant.

Now, a covenant comes into force. That is, it becomes the rule of life with the shedding of blood.

When God established his covenant with the people of Israel at Mount Sinai, we read in Exodus chapter 24 these words,

Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, this is the blood of the covenant that the

Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.

Jesus says, this is my blood of the covenant, right?

And so, what he's saying is, a covenant has come into play, a covenant that has all the rules of life and that outlines our obligations to one another.

And so, if we would enter into a covenant, we would shed the blood of an animal and that would bring into force the covenant with all its rules and regulations.

And so, in the Old Testament, when Moses killed the animal and sprinkled the blood on the people and said, this is the blood of the covenant, they then took upon themselves the responsibility of keeping the covenant before the

Lord and he keeping his part of the covenant, right? You will be my people if you keep my covenant.

That is, they obligated themselves to obey that covenant and God obligated himself to bless them on their obedience and curse them on their disobedience.

But here's what's fascinating about the new covenant. In this covenant, the obligations are entirely

God's. They are entirely God's. When Jesus talks about, this is my blood of the covenant, he's establishing the new covenant, which is described in Jeremiah chapter 31.

If you want to turn there, Jeremiah chapter 31.

Here's what the promised new covenant was like. Jeremiah 31, verse 31.

Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their forefathers on the day when

I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. My covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the

Lord, for this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the

Lord. I will put my law within them and I will write it on their hearts and I will be their

God and they shall be my people and no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother saying, no, the

Lord, for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more.

No, all the obligations of the covenant, God takes upon himself. And so as Jesus shed that blood, he established that new covenant.

And notice, it is not our commitment to God, but God's promises to us that are the focus.

This covenant brings forgiveness. It brings obedience. It brings the knowledge of God.

This then is what Jesus accomplished. A covenant means the community of God's people and that new community of God's people is constituted by the sacrifice of Jesus.

We are now the people of God because of the sacrifice of Jesus and he ratifies the covenant between us and God.

It is composed of all those who partake of the benefits of that death.

That is those who are redeemed, those who have put their faith in Jesus for forgiveness of sins.

The Passover brought about the formation of Israel, but now there is a new redemption constituting the new people of God.

Now, there's one other thing that the Lord's Table tells us. It speaks not only of Jesus' death.

Note, but new life with him at the great messianic banquet. Isn't that what

Jesus says? I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the day when

I drink it anew in the kingdom of God. Jesus forgoes wine, not to perfect his character, not to gain any merit from God, but in order to say to you, in order to say to us,

I don't want to enjoy this wine without you. He's saying, I'm waiting for the day when we can all drink together.

Now, one of the things I think that we need to note here is the nature of the table.

It is first a gift of God to us and not our giving to God.

This is key here. This is important. This is important. It is not our giving to God.

It is his gift to us. The commands take and eat and drink from it. All of you speak of Jesus giving to us.

Now, the Roman Catholic view and the Orthodox Church's view, the Eastern Orthodox Church, is that this is a sacrifice we offer to God rather than a gift received from him.

It is something, it is the sacrifice of Jesus now that we offer to God rather than a gift received.

It becomes a good deed performed. I go to Mass, I go to that. It's a good deed that I perform for God.

I go and I participate in the Mass rather than it being a gift from God. But unless we

Protestants get too high on our horses, the typical Protestant view also misses the fact that this is a gift for it sees this as a memorial to which we bring our devotion and our worthiness.

Too many people think, okay, I've got to make sure I'm doing everything right before I go to the table.

It doesn't excuse sin. It doesn't mean that if there's a difference between you and a brother, you need to deal with it before you come to the table.

But the fact that you have to get yourself worthy of it is not part of it.

And so what we see instead of a proclamation to us of God's grace in Jesus, and instead of a communion between us and the

Lord Jesus, it becomes something to which we bring our devotion and offer God. All right.

So we have to see that this is a gift of God to us, not us giving to God, a proclamation of his grace, communion between us and the

Lord Jesus. All right. Well, we've come to the end of this section of the lecture.

And so let's pray. All right. And I'll see you next time. Father, thanks again for our time together.